


Coming together

by DarkHorseAsh



Category: Cinderbrush (Web Video), Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Autistic Character, Cuddling & Snuggling, Drug Addiction, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gonna be honest this is probably Jamie centered but we'll see, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Kissing, Nonbinary Character, Past Child Abuse, Polyamory, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Teenagers, This is gonna be sickeningly cute probably, Touch-Starved, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22797124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkHorseAsh/pseuds/DarkHorseAsh
Summary: Afterward everything is over, the Cinderbrush Four are wondering: What comes next.
Relationships: Eventual Jamie Wrenly/Cameron Solomon/Abigail "Aff" Flowers/Sasha Murasaki
Comments: 25
Kudos: 178





	1. Forgotten wounds

Jamie almost forgets about the gunshot wound, when it happens. They’re so focused on all the shit going down around them that they manage to almost forget about it as the sirens grow closer, as the metal digs into their wrists, as they’re crammed into the backseat of a cop car with Cameron, Aff, and Sasha. They don’t really notice it until they’re in a small holding cell, watching Aff pace and Cameron curl up on the cot. if it could be called that, looking halfway to a panic attack.

The pain comes all at once, sharp and tearing, and they’re halfway to the ground before they realize they’ve even moved. They force breath in, then out, praying their colorful velvety coat hides the worst of the blood. One hand slowly, as sneakily as they can manage, comes up to touch their shoulder, trying to determine the level of damage.

Unfortunately, they had forgotten about Sasha. Sasha, who had been watching them quite closely, crossed the cell in two steps to grab their arm, causing a sharp wince. “Jamie, what the hell. Are you hurt?” They cursed silently, pulling their head up and pushing their mask firmly back over their face. “I’m fine, dear, it’s just that I’m locked in a cell and my mother is going to have a fit over this.” they snark, but something in Sasha’s eyes tells them that she’s not buying it.

“Hey, Cam, up.” She calls, and Cameron instinctively scrambles off the cot. Jamie opens their mouth to protest, but they’re already being shoved so they’re sitting on the cot. “Sasha, if you wanted me on a bed, you could’ve just said so, but I think your plaything might get jealous.” They’re trying for snarky, for rude, but it must miss because Cameron is turning to look at them now, worry flickering over his face, worry that they don’t even begin to deserve. 

“Jamie” a hand brushes over their hair and they have to force back a growl; it can only be Sasha, but she knows well that everything she has doesn’t work on them. They take a breath, then a second, trying to ignore the growing pain in their shoulder. They can feel three sets of eyes on them, now, and they have to bite down on a cry of frustration because why won’t they just  _ leave them alone.  _

It’s Cam in front of them when they open their eyes again. Their sunglasses are gone, and for a moment they consider swearing or yelling or doing  _ something  _ to get them back, because what the hell, but Cam’s hands are steady on their knees and he’s looking at them with those big puppy dog eyes and Jamie doesn’t really know how to fight him, and they’re definitely starting to feel a little dizzy. “It’s fine, dear, I just got poked a little with a bullet, I’ll be fine.” 

They think they might blackout for a moment because when they blink next they’re laying on their back and Aff is poking at their shoulder. “Ow?” They mumble, for the first time in years unable to find anything snarky to say. Sasha is hunched by their legs, looking for all the world like her usual stuck-up self, but they knew her well enough to see the hint of genuine worry. “I’m fine, one extra hole won’t do me in.” Aff’s fingers hit a particularly tender spot and they yelp, pulling away before they can help themself. It’s far from the first time they’ve been hurt, but it  _ is  _ admittedly the first time they’ve been shot. Aff’s nimble fingers undo their harness and they have to stifle a whine at the loss of pressure. Sasha presses a little closer and they groan, eyes shuttering closed without their permission.

They don’t bleed out. They let Aff tear their shirt with slightly-extended claws and tuck Cameron’s varsity jacket over their shoulders and try to hide the fact they’re not wearing their binder since Sasha had tugged it off while they slept in an effort to avoid their breathing being restricted. The police don’t comment; they see their haircut and the scars on their arms and the way they hunch a little too far forward and decide who they are before a word has left their mouth.

Two days later, they go home, to a house where their mother won’t even look at them. They hide out in their bedroom that first night, but it quickly becomes clear that she’s just not going to bring it up. Or speak to them. At all. They go stir crazy in the first fourty-eight hours, and they’re vaguely unwilling to push it by smoking like they want to with her in the house, so fifty-three hours in they climb out the window, grab their scooter, and leave. 

Their spot is empty. The teen sinks gratefully onto the stone floor, grateful for the pillow they had brought out months earlier. Their shoulder throbbed painfully under the bandages that they’d carefully wrapped around it, and they lean against the wall. They consider reaching for their meticulously-sorted drugs, but they think of Cameron’s disappointed stare and Aff’s hands on their shoulders and they shove the bag aside, curl up on their side, and bury their head in their pillow. And there, where no one can hear them, Jamie Wrenly cries like their heart has been broken. 


	2. Finding Jamie

Aff is the one who notices first, slipping their phone from their pocket to send a quick text to Cameron and Sasha. “Jamie isn’t here today. Again.” Sasha looks like the perfect student, hand furiously scribbling notes even as she responds “They haven’t responded to my texts, which is...unusual.” Cameron, who wasn’t even trying to hide the phone he grasped in one hand, quickly responded: “They haven’t gotten back to me, either.” 

They meet up after class. Aff is  _ worried;  _ they’ve sent half a dozen texts in the last day alone to Jamie, and the witch hadn’t returned one. Cameron lounged against the lockers and looked concerned. “I don’t like this. They’ve never taken this long to respond before, and why aren’t they in school?” Sasha, who at least was managing to keep up her facade of uncaringness, shrugged. “Maybe they’ve actually gotten a doctor to look at their shoulder?” Cameron snorts, and Aff raises an eyebrow, and Sasha quickly has to concede that there’s virtually no chance of that happening. “If they don’t respond by after school, we’ll go look for them.” She decides, and Aff nods, already setting off towards their second class.

Jamie hasn’t appeared by the end of the school day, so they meet by Aff’s car on Sasha’s orders. “Ok. Let’s check their house first; their mom has the Afternoon shift, so she shouldn’t be there.” Sasha orders, claiming the shotgun to give directions to Aff. Cameron lounges in the back, head leaning against the glass as Aff very slowly drives towards the house, impressively impervious to Sasha’s pleads to drive with a  _ little  _ more speed.

The house is dark and locked. Cameron snags a key from under the pot beside the door and pointedly ignores Sasha’s raised eyebrows as he unlocks it and lets himself in, calling out “Jamie? Jamie, you around dude?” The house stands silent, and Aff takes a step closer to the doorway, eyes wide. 

It quickly becomes clear that Jamie isn’t here. Their room is empty, their bag is missing. Sasha scans the room intently, and the other two sort of sit back and let her do her thing since she knows Jamie the best. She pauses by the ed, one hand dropping to grasp a bag and tug it out with a grunt. “Cameron, you take that.” Cameron nods, lifting the heavy bag up with a grunt as Sasha pockets the sunglasses she’d seen on the top of the desk. “Can I ask what you’re doing?” Aff asks quietly, and Sasha shrugs. “You’ll see.” She purrs, and Aff rolls their eyes. “Yeah, ok.” Sasha glances carefully, eyes falling on the harness carefully resting on the bookcase and tossing it into their bag before heading for the exit. “C’mon, I think I know where they are. We just need to make a stop on the way.”

Aff drives quicker, this time; they’re getting more and more worried for Jamie. Sasha looks as calm and collected as always, but Cameron’s eyes were wide with worry as the group parked and hurried towards the small cave entrance that hid Jamie’s lair. Sasha gave a soft, “Jamie, dear, are you in here?” 

Jamie forced their eyes open. Their body aches from sleeping on the hard stone, and they’d forgotten just how cold the cave got at night. They groaned, forcing their body up to a sitting position and immediately regretting it as their head spun and they flopped back down. “God, I’ve got to get some fucking food.” They grumble. It had been two-and-a-half days since they’d left, and the fact that no one had even tried to find them had pretty much cemented Jamie’s opinion of what everyone thought of them.

They feel  _ awful,  _ freezing and needy. They pull their knees to their chest and rock, grimacing at the sweat that’s stained their clothing. “Well, this is the fucking worst.” They grumble, rolling to their side to gag but at least not bringing anything up since it had been a while since they’d actually had a meal. The sound of rocks falling from the entrance of their cave sends them back to their knees, hand reaching for their pouches even though they have no idea if they have enough strength to cast a spell right now. 

“Jamie.”  _ Fuck.  _ They thought, but managed not to say, instead sending a snarky glare at Sasha. “Sasha, dear, I don’t remember telling you you could come over?” They give a grunt of frustration as Sasha doesn’t look the least bit concerned with listening to them. “Jamie, dear, we were  _ worried.  _ You weren’t getting back to us.” Jamie grimaced; they could feel their hands shaking and cursed their own reluctance to dig into their drug supplies since it meant they were almost definitely feeling the beginnings of withdrawal. 

They blink again and Aff is crouched before them, one hand reaching to touch theirs. They flinch back hard, and Aff gives a worried little whimper. “I’m sorry?” He mutters nervously. Jamie blinks again and Sasha has nudged Aff to the side. “What on earth have you gotten yourself into this time, dear?” It’s lacking Sasha’s usual controlling, seductive tone, and she knows it, he can see her eyes shift a little. “Fuck off.” They grumble, but it’s lacking their usual fight and Sasha knows them too well to fall for it. 

“We brought soup!” Cameron calls, interrupting the awkward standoff. “I dunno why, actually? Sasha wanted soup.” Jamie raised an eyebrow at Sasha, a “ _ Really, Sasha?”  _ expression that is so them that Sasha relaxes a little. 

“I appreciate all of your...concern, but you can clearly see that I am fine, so kindly fuck off.” Cam looks hurt, and Jamie can’t quite quiet their brain’s snap of “Good.” Sasha has dropped to sitting and she brings a hand up to brush their hair aside, and Jamie’s sluggish reflexes are too feverishly confused to flinch back in time. They  _ see  _ Sasha’s face tighten. “Jamie,” she purrs, but it’s got far more of a dangerous undertone than usual, “Might I ask, what the  _ fuck  _ happened?” 

They don’t quite know what to say. They feel dizzy and more afraid than they have in a very long time, and they have to force their hands not to flinch desperately towards their pouches. They can’t spell these problems away, and they know it. “ _ Please  _ go.” They’re absolutely sure it won’t work, Sasha has no idea how to not get what she wants, but to their confusion, she nods. “Fine, Cameron, Aff, come on.” They watch in  _ confusion  _ as she stands, turns, and walks towards the mouth of the cave.

They really, really don’t want to be left alone again. That realization hits them as the trio reaches the door, and so they struggle to their feet, stumbling after them. Cameron turns, something concerned on his face, and then there are hands grasping their arms. “You  _ idiot _ ,” Cameron grumbles, and it sounds more affectionate than they expect. “We don’t want to leave you you fucker, so tell us what’s wrong and  _ let us help. _ ” They think they might be crying. They just feel  _ dreadfully  _ bad, hot and cold all at once, and the world around them spins painfully. They twist their head to one side and retch, brain screaming in misery.

Sasha has dropped her mask of a lack of concern at this point. Jamie looks  _ bad;  _ their face is far too pale, their eyes are vacant, and they’re practically limp in Aff and Cameron’s grasp. Cameron and Aff are talking to them, soft words that Sasha can’t quite hear. Cameron turns back to Sasha, eyes careful. “We really ought to not stay here.” Sasha tilts her head, and Cameron persists. “It’s cold as fuck in here Sash, and they’re clearly not doing well.” 

“So. Where do we bring them, then?” She asks, and Cameron pauses, face twisting because he knows full well his home is  _ not  _ an option. “I don’t know...if they’re out here then I sort of doubt that they want us to bring them home but my place isn’t an option my folks hate them.” Sasha nods; her parents didn’t necessarily hate Jamie as thoroughly as Cameron’s father did, but they’d ask awkward, poking, cruel questions, and wouldn’t be beyond tossing Sasha’s friend back out which...wasn’t the goal.

“My dad won’t care. Well, he might be a little, but he won’t hurt them.” Aff speaks up. Cameron and Sasha both drop the staring contest they’d been having and turn to look at them and Aff blushes and looks down. "I don’t think we have a better option than my place.”

Aff drives much more briskly on the way back. Sasha and Cameron both sit in the back, Jamie curled up small as they can get between them, head on Cameron’s lap. Sasha runs her fingers over the long ends of their hair and tries not to worry too much. She’s broken from her thoughts as Aff half-turns to look at her. “Why didn’t they want our help?” Sasha sighs. “Jamie doesn’t do help, dear, any more than they do friends. Even when they want it.” 

They sit in relative silence until they reach Aff’s house above the liquor store, the silence only broken up by the soft whines and nonsense mumbles of Jamie. Aff parks and hurries to the back of the car, helping Cameron grab Jamie and pull them in the direction of the apartment. 

Mercifully, Aff’s father isn’t in the apartment. They haul Jamie into their own bedroom without question, tugging them up onto the bed with a grunt. “Ok. What now.” They turn to Cameron and Sasha, eyes wide and questioning; Aff’s never done this. They have no idea what to do to help at this moment. Thankfully, for reasons Aff doesn’t question, Sasha seems to. “Cameron, can you go find some advil or something they’re really warm.” She decides, running her fingers over Jamie’s forehead. “Aff, get some cool water.” 

As soon as they’re off running and not looking like scared people with no idea what to do, Sasha turns back to Jamie. “Oh, dear. You really got yourself in a pickle, huh.” She murmurs, fingers briskly moving to strip away the sweat-soaked shirt with a grimace as Jamie twitches under their fingers. “I know, Jamie. You said we’d never do this again, remember.” She purrs gently. Jamie leans up slightly, presses into the firm hands on their shoulders. “Yeah,I know, I know.” she sighs. “You’d much rather us not be here, but we are, dear, so I think you’re going to let us.” She purrs, leaning to press her lips gently to their head just before Aff and Cameron hurried back into the room.

Jamie stirred a little, their tired eyes fighting to focus on the ceiling. They were somewhere softer, now, something  _ heavy  _ and warm resting over them making every cell in their body relax a little. They could feel fingers in their hair, and slowly they forced tired eyes up to see Sasha above them. Her eyes flickered down a moment later and caught theirs, a hint of surprise in them. “Go back to sleep, Jamie.” Jamie wants to protest if only because arguing is kind of there thing, but their eyes slip shut before they even have a chance to put up a fight, as the last thing they feel before darkness is the tips of Sasha’s fingers on their forehead.


End file.
